A Man and His Job
by Ace.x.Luffy.x.Zoro
Summary: Two thugs are simply doing their 'job' when a foreign threat interrupts their 'calm way of life' and forces some very tough decisions on these two punks.
1. Chapter 1: A Man and His Job

A Man and His Job

A man sat back in his chair casually, arm over the back, and looked down at the table in front of him in a dimly lit room. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, tapping his foot as he considered his options. Both were bad, but one had to be done. He could only hope for the best and choose one, forgetting what would happen to him afterwards. It was, how you say, an _interesting _world Eustass Kidd lived in.

* * *

1 Month Earlier; an alley behind a run-down apartment complex - a relatively large city.

Sitting on top of a dumpster with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, a long-haired blonde tapped his fingers on his blue Indian jeans as he waited patiently for his 'captain', the one who ran things around there. Everyone who was anyone had heard of him, the bastard who was ruthless and would do anything simply because he felt like it. There were only a few maybe insanely cocky people that would go up against him and come out with stab wounds or broken limbs, or maybe carted off to the torn-up hospital in a stretcher; maybe it was better that way, since the hospital staff all knew the captain's face all too well.

A bruised-up punk looking guy came wandering into the entrance of the alleyway, casting his tall shadow down it and onto the blonde's feet at the end of the alley. The punk grinned. The blonde took a drag from his cigarette and smirked. With a gentle hop from the dumpster, the blonde sauntered down the alley with hands in his pockets, smirking all the way till he bumped chests with the other punk, who merely gave him a punch to the chest. The blonde took a scabbard from off his beltloop and jabbed the other in the gut with it, and then returned the sheath to its holster. The blonde pulled a pocketful of money out and pushed it into the other's chest and pushed past him, walking into full daylight with no worries; after all, he had met his quota for the day and given the captain his 'payment'.

"I swear, you get more and more each day," the taller punk whispered with a spin on his heel, following after the long golden locks that he was used to seeing each day while ungainfully stuffing the cash into his pocket.

"Isn't that my job?" the blonde replied with a swish of his hand, plucking the cigarette from his lips and tossed it to the ground, stamping it out with his tan high-heeled boots.

"Yeah... I guess it is," the other responded with a smirk, putting his hand out to grab the blonde's shoulder, halting him from walking further into the street; the were already in the dead-center of it, and had no fear of anything, for they were the only people that could possibly hurt them. They took around them and grinned.

The two strange-haired punks, thugs, roaming 'their' streets with no worries.. that they were aware of.

* * *

The same blonde and punk sat in a sliced-up, blood-red booth at the back of their favorite pub, puffing away as more beggars and kids strolled through like they owned the place. However, these people did not know that the real 'owners' were nearby and ready for their next source of income.

The punk leaned into the blonde's shoulder and pointed past him at a lanky dark-haired guy who looked like he hadn't slept in days. The blonde followed the point and observed the lanky man carefully... no apparent weapons, no muscle; easy as pie.

"See that guy?"

"Yeah, I ain't blind.. as far as I know."

"Really? Can't tell 'cause of your fuckin' hair the way it is."

"It's my hair. I can let it cover what I want to cover."

"Even the things you see with... _Killer_?"

"Yes, even 'the things I see with', _Kidd... _Anyway, continue."

"Alright, alright. So I got a call from this real uppity guy, real calm-sounding ya know but in the way you can tell he's not normally like that, suspicious, and he tells me this, 'Kidd, I have a guy for you.' And I says back , 'Oh really? Tell me 'bout 'im.' So he does ya see, and that's that guy there. 'Parently he's got something goin' on with his 'princess of a daughter, and wouldn't ever accept a thug like him'. So, there he is, and here we are."

The blonde, Killer, nodded slowly and took titled his head back toward the punk, Kidd, as he told him the story. Killer tapped a long-nailed finger on the jagged booth-table and grinned under his golden bangs, concocting a simple plan in his mind. Walk up to the bar, order a drink, slide up next to the guy while blowin' out some smoke and drag him out the back door the right and into the alleyway. Kidd would follow afterward to make sure the deed is done, but Killer probably wouldn't have a problem by himself with a dead-lookin' guy.

"Ya better go, kid," Kidd urged with a jab to Killer's lower back, and no more words were needed. The blonde seemed to glide up over to the bar through the smoky air and puffed on his cig, tapped a nail on the bar and immediately got a drink, free o' charge, and then headlocked the dead-guy next to him, ushering a short two-fingered wave back at Kidd across the room before disappearing into the alley beyond. Kidd laughed to himself and brought the tabacco-stick to his lips and took a deep drag, slowly blowing out as he faintly heard a piercing scream and a _shink _of metal on brick. Kidd then opened his eyes and took a drink from his glass, putting his cigarette down flat on the table, and strode out the back down of the bar before the table was engulfed in flames.

"Good job. Bring him with and we better hurry. The place'll go before long," Kidd explained calmly as Killer hauled the bloody corpse over his white-polka dotted black shirt, only to make it a bit more red than was planned. Eustass Kidd put an arm around Killer shoulder, just under the body, and pulled him to his side, laughing as he could see dollar signs in his near future.

"Why do you always insist on holding me this way when you blow up a place?" Killer asked monotonously as they walked across the street from the flaming bar, where 'something' in the back room that may or may not have been there the day before caught the flames in its hands and blew up on the spot, creating a simply marvelous backdrop for the two thugs that grinned their way across town through the main streets, blood dripping the entire way to the 'client's' front door.

Kidd knocked 4 times, as was instructed, but not on the back door, and a plain young girl answered the door with a sheepish smile before her body froze in pure horror at the sight of Eustass Kidd and his wicked grin and outstretched hand, and her boyfriend draped over his 'boyfriend's' shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

The whole world stopped and she screamed a scream that was heard throughout the city, and everyone knew what had happened for the 2nd time that week..

Killer dropped the boyfriend on the front step like a ragdoll and saluted the lady with a smirk, slinking back into the shadows as her father, the client, came to the door with a look of pure dread and caught his fainted daughter in her arms. Kidd didn't let his grin slack, and waved his open palm, and pulled the man by his collar up to him.

"Pops, here, it's done. Now gimme what I asked for."

The man's eyes were unseeing and he only half-consciously pulled a few stacks of cash from his back pocket and shakily pushed it into Kidd's open hand. Kidd let go of him, gave the girl a wink and kiss on the cheek before shoving his hands into his pockets and whistled as he walked away down the street, the man, the girl and the victim all frozen motionless at the end of the street, seeming to be in a trance till Eustass Kidd disappeared from view into the shadows once more with the echo of his laughter floating on the wind.

* * *

~ + well hello and welcome to a request story about Kid, and I got this story idea from one sentence about a man sitting at a table looking down at a gun. that was all it took to get this going, and im really excited to finish this! XD stay tuned for more in the next few days. + ~


	2. Chapter 2: The Quack Doctor

Chapter 2: The Quack Doctor

Eustass Kidd was no ordinary man, no no, he didn't look like one either with his flaming red hair and 7 ft stature. He wore clothes that no one else wore and knew strength that no other man had known before.

Killer was the same way; long golden hair pouring over his shoulders and down his back, and his bangs hid his face from the rest of the world. No one knew what he looked like under those bangs, and he hoped that no one ever would, except for Kidd. Kidd was the only he didn't kill for seeing his eyes.

If you ever found the two walking down the street, maybe you would simply just think that they were two odd punks who had a terrible sense of fashion, but they preferred it that way. Kidd always went bare-chested with a striking pair of black and neon lizard-print pants with high black boots and a maroon coat draped over his shoulders to match his lipstick and sharp fingernails. Killer wore a collared, long-sleeved black shirt with white polka-dots and wore a pair of tight fitting blue jeans with light fringe from the calf down with tan high-heeled boots underneath the flared ankles of his pants. Both wore a pair of black goggles around their necks for show and were proud of it; that's how you knew Kidd and Killer from the rest of the low-life that wandered 'their' town.

Walking calmly down the middle of the street, puffing on cigarettes as usual, Kidd and Killer chatted like they didn't have red blood splattered across their chests from the latest victims, and the two split the payment in two, with a few extra dollars for Kidd that they had picked off a pedestrian. Really, they didn't have to so much as say a word if they wanted money, though, because the 'citizens' of their town would pull the money from their pockets before the punks could even say a word or make a move.

"I'm kinda surprised he stepped up on his own," Kidd commented, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth for the moment while he looked down the narrow street. Killer nodded, smirking, keeping his sharp for the man they were talking about. They were on their way to meet this man, but who knew exactly where.

Right as Kidd grinned and put his cig back up to his maroon lips, a man stepped out of a narrow alleyway with his hands in his pockets, a suspicious look covering his face.

"So I finally get to see 'The Kid' in person, eh?"

Kidd narrowed his black eyes at hearing the man's deep voice and grunted I response. Killer stopped and pulled his hand-scythe half-way out of its sheath, glinting it dangerously in the light. The man laughed lightly and held up his arms in surrender.

"Now, now.. no need to slice me up before we even talk, Mr. Killer," the man said with a hint to playfulness in his tone. The 'man' was tall and slim with short, navy blue hair. A tight, black, high-collared sweater clothed his chest and arms and dark jeans similar to Killer's pants covered his long legs. Underneath his pant legs he wore black high-heeled boots that raised him up an unnecessary 2 inches and moved like the wind, gracefully and gently; calmly. His eyes were bright like the sun but strikingly calm, and his pairs of earrings shone in the same way. The man's tan hands were tattooed, and who knew what else.. Altogether, he was just interesting, not really _scary _or _threatening. _

"I'm guessin' you're... Law, then?" Kidd mumbled, slowly holding out his cigarette to Law, who stepped out of the shadows and took it, placing up in between his lips.

"Yeah," 'Law' replied simply with his crazed look ever about him. Kidd stepped back, not liking the close proximity for an odd reason. Law took no notice and looked off to the side, tapping his toe gently to some beat inside his head. Kidd's eye twitched; he didn't like this.. this 'Law' guy.

"You got something to say to me?" Kidd spat out, swiping the cigarette out of the man's mouth and dropped it on the ground, crushing it with his black boot with a thud. Killer let go of his sheath and smiled to himself, stepping back a bit with his arms crossed. Law merely closed his eyes with the same unchanging smile.

"I'm only here to talk about me and what I do; this's got nothin' to do with you _yet,_" Law stated, pointing a carefree tattooed at Kidd, shifting his weight back on his right foot. Right when Kidd thought he couldn't squint anymore, he found a new notch for his eyebrows to go to, courtesy of his rising hatred for this alleged 'quack doctor'.

"Fine, then talk about you."

Killer's smile dropped and he shuffled his heel, having a bad feeling about what Law had just said before his captain replied.. '_yet_', that one word got him.

Law tilted back his head a bit and licked his lips, staring off into space somewhere up and diagonal, as if weighing his options before speaking; then he did.

"Alright. I'll talk about me. But first, we have to go on a little stroll.."

Kidd scoffed and shoved his hands in his pockets angrily, following Law down the same alley he had appeared from, with Killer close on his heels. Law smirked.

Winding them up and down streets and alleys, the three came to a run-down apartment building, the tallest one around, and Law led them up the ladders and metal stairwells outside with clanks and bangs of their boots, and came to the last apartment on that floor. Law pushed the door open by the one hinge it still had and entered whilst whistling.

Kidd took one step inside and the smell of drugs hit him hard upside the head, and he wondered just what Law was trying to do.. he wasn't there to buy some Joe-shmoe's drugs. And Law didn't mention that he kept dead animal's guts for a hobby either..

Enclosed jars and tanks littered the room, cast off in random places, and the organs of different mammals were placed inside these jars filled with formaldehyde. The two punks had seen some weird shit, with their job and everything, but.. this was a first.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" Kidd mumbled, sitting himself down in the first of two chairs. Meanwhile, Killer bent over to inspect a small jar with a bright green eye floating in it. Law gave them both an amused glance and sat across from Kidd in the dimly-lit, almost empty room (other than the chairs and jars..). Kidd put his arms up behind his head and crossed his legs, waiting.. waiting.

"Here we are. This... this is _my _place of employment," Law explained with a gesture to the room around them. Kidd snorted.

"Well.. I should say this is my storage area. The back room is where all the nitty-gritty stuff goes on after I drug 'em up nice and good.."

Kidd raised an eyebrow in question. Law grinned like the maniac he was. Killer wandered around, not amused.

"It's really nice, my job.. all I have to do is lure some retard in with the promise with some cheap drugs of sorts, whatever they want, and then I give it to them... and once they're down and out, I make them think that some animal guts in their guts would cure 'their terrible, incurable disease'. So they shove the money my way, whatever they have, and I lay 'em down, cut 'em open, and do just what I said I would."

Law finished by picking up a jar from next to his chair and showed it off to Kidd. Kidd did not look and had his eyes closed tightly, not wanting believe that anyone could be stupid enough to fall for that.

Killer looked up from his place on the floor that he had chosen as a seat with interest and smiled, poking the small jar with the eye in it that he had claimed as his own, admiring Law's work.

"And so.. where do you.."

"Ah, that's easy. Stray cats, dogs, occasionally some humans wander my way when I'm running low.." Law said offhandedly, pointing to 'Killer's eye', for example purposes. Killer held it protectively close to him...

"You're one fucked up guy, Law.." Eustass said under his breath, and then he flicked his eyes up, locking glances with Law's golden eyes, "but I kinda like it, the more I think about it. You're in till you screw somethin' up, not including the 'little ladies' out there. Law closed his eyes and rolled his head back, cracking it in the process.

"Ah, I'm honored to do it.. Eustass Kidd."

"Don't.. just call him Kidd," Killer warned, standing up tall. Kidd muttered a short strand of curses, hating his mother for giving him the dreaded name of 'Eustass'.. like an old man.. Law raised his hands in surrender again with a little more laughter as he stood from his seat, observing the blood all the two punks as if it had just magically appeared there. Law pointed to Killer's shirt, making Kidd turn back to look at his accomplice.

"Want me to wash that?" Law asked, as if they weren't in the middle of an organ-filled run-down apartment. Killer let his mouth go slack a little in shock while Kidd slapped an angry hand to his forehead.

"Stop acting like a creep one minute and then a mom the next!"

"Heh.. it was just a polite question~"

Meanwhile, Killer blinked and took off his shirt, tossing it to Law and in turn smearing some blood on Law's black sweater. The three didn't move.. Kidd looked back at Killer..

"What? You really think I like inhaling the smell of iron all day?" Killer retorted, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly while Kidd shook his head and sighed.

"Why the fuck am I always surrounded by retards?" Kidd sighed out. Killer and Law growled and then mellowed out, Killer picking his jar back up off the ground while Law slung the shirt over his arm. The blonde pointed to the eyeball..

"Can I keep it?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Cool."

"What's wrong with you?!"

* * *

~ + thanks for reading.. and yayyy.. Law~ XD idk how long this will be, honestly, but I feel like it will end up being a lot longer than the planned 4,000 words.. so... idk if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I know that I like it! XD **let me know what you think! **+ ~


	3. Chapter 3: Ongoing Problems

Chapter 3: Ongoing Problems

"You had one fucking job!"

Killer sat back in his chair, smiling as he watched his captain get flustered over Law's mistake.

"Yeah. Never said I had to do it right."

"Do you know... what this could do to me?!"

"Nah, and I wouldn't care even if I did."

Kidd ran a hand through his hair in anger and lit up a cigarette, popping it between his lips to take a deep drag, exhaling as if his worries would float away with the smoke, "'Course... you're just a doctor.. why would care? You only let some bum steal half my fortune.."

"Hey, he didn't steal it and he's not just a bum!" Law fumed, suddenly becoming defensive of his new accomplice he had picked up several days earlier who just happened to need a few thousand to pay off some debt..

"Okay fine, then _you _stole it to give to _the _bum."

"There's no helping it now... well, actuall-"

"What now?"

"..you could let him join you," Law continued, leaning his elbows on the table in Kidd's 'house', or, the house that he had stolen first (a.k.a he killed the owners, his first major crime, and then after he cleaned off the blood he moved in). The three were in a small room in the basement with one dangling lightbulb above the table, with four mix-matched chairs around the table and an ash tray in the middle.

Kidd looked up at Law with an incredulous look of furious-ness.

"Him, join me?! Just who do you think I am, Law?! A patient, excepting, _forgiving _murderer?"

"Well, I had hoped you would understand.. apparently you're skull is a bit thicker than I had bargained for."

Killer chuckled and took his eyeball-jar out of his pocket, looking back into the green eye while he was overjoyed for Kidd. He never had this much fun fighting with someone other than Killer, well, rarely... Kidd's look of fury settled a little into his brain and he snapped his eyes shut, tapping his finger quickly on the table while recover when Killer caught sight of his emotions.

Killer smirked and threw his head back, lifting a long leg up and overturned the table, driving the other two out and away from it before it toppled over onto the floor with a heavenly thunder-clap, sending the ash tray across the floor and up against the opposite door. The small remains of a cigarette caught the dry wooden door frame, igniting the only exit. Kidd stood and fumed while taking a step toward Killer while the flame grew, and kicked the bottom of his chair backwards, sending the blonde into the wall calmly. Law looked around frantically, not knowing what to do while Kidd sat back down in his chair and put his hands over his face. The flames raged, threatening to engulf the ceiling in orange. The smoke clouded the air and they coughed and choked.

Killer smirked and punched in the section of wall he lay next to on the floor, and pulled out a fire extinguisher that he concealed there for that very reason and pulled, spraying the flames out as he inched his way up back to a casual standing position. Law coughed and coughed, covering his mouth with his elbow and kicked the door through, breaking out into the hallway. Kidd grabbed Killer by his collar and dragged him out of the room, and held up to the wall outside, all getting good breaths of clean air.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"Just showing you what you were about to do," Killer replied calmly, crossing his arms while Kidd held him up still. Kidd blinked and stared through Killer's bangs at his eyes and narrowed his own, dropping the blonde back to the ground with a 'tch'. Killer raised an eyebrow and followed him back to Law. Kidd didn't like to discuss things like that with Killer.. since the blonde knew everything about him from careful observations, including the fact that Kidd did _not _like trying to work with other people and had a tendency to flip tables when he got mad.

"So.. like you were saying before blondie over here nearly baked us alive...?" Kidd started again, jabbing a thumb towards Killer who only grinned away. Law shook his head and put a hand to his head.

"I was saying.. that _the _bum could work for you and repay you that way," Law offered. Then again.. the guy paid off a debt to earn another one... but too late, Kidd was on it.

"Fuck that.. I should really just... Law, I'm a genius. I'll go slit the other guy's throat and just steal back my money. I forgot I was a thug for a second."

"An idiot indeed."

"Yeah, an id- okay... you know what..."

Kidd turned on Law and landed a kick on the thin man's side, sending him back into the fire-room and landed on the edge of the overturned table. Killer held his gut and put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing as Kidd grinned and turned to him, signaling him to follow him back upstairs with Law crawling out of the room just as they got to the top.

"Eustass Kidd!"

"Go fix yourself up with a dog spleen or something, 'Dr. Trafalgar Law'," Kidd replied, shutting and bolting the door to the basement. He took two steps and then stopped, realizing something he had forgotten to ask. He unlocked the door and opened it a crack, pushing his weight against the door as the doctor was attempting escape.

"Hey, what's the debt-collector look like?" Kidd asked calmly, continuing to just lean against the door, not bothering to really push. Law took his chance and threw his weight against the door and pushed Kidd off enough to squeeze through the door and attempted to run when Kidd's weight came back and crushed his hand in the door. Law winced and let a deep groan out, pulling his broken hand out of the door as Kidd crossed his arms and waited patiently for his response...

"Ha. Look what you did to yourself, you motherfucker, now tell me who he is," Kidd said again with a smile, leaning against Killer's shoulder. Killer kept his tongue between his teeth, not having a good feeling about the answer to come.

"Joker.." Law groaned from his kneeling position on the floor trying to hold his hand delicately. Kidd's eyes went wide.

".._The _Joker?" Kidd responded, taking a step back, throwing Killer off balance for a moment. Law nodded and hissed in pain, standing up and leaning against the wall like noting had happened. Killer glanced back at Kidd with a blank expression while Kidd shook his head and thought about it for a moment.

There was only one guy higher than Kidd and that was 'Joker'.. the guy who controlled all that came too close, the puppet-master, the King of the Underground. Suddenly, Kidd looked up at Law with a paler-face than expression.

"You're connected to Joker now then.." Kidd hissed, stalking up to tower over Law again, who looked down at his boots with a far-off look in his usually gleaming eyes.

"Actually, I have been now for a few years.." Law whispered, pretending to be regretful for admitting such a thing, and Kidd felt bad for him for a quick second before Law flashed his eyes up to Kidd with a wicked grin on his face. Kidd stepped back and realized what he had gotten himself into.. so he gritted his teeth and pulled back a leg, kicking Law square in the ribcage, sending him sprawling on the floor. Killer merely leaned back with his arms crossed, observing the trap they had walked into..

"You fuckin' bastard!" Kidd roared, kicking Law a few times in the side before picking him up by his collar like a doll and held him against the wall, clenching the other's tan neck between his maroon-nailed fingers. "You motherfucker.." Kidd hissed, pulling a shining pistol from his pocket. Law gasped for breath, and tried fruitlessly to yank Kidd's fingers off his windpipe, and stared in mortification as Kidd held up his pistol.

"You wouldn't.." Law whispered softly, staring back at Kidd. Kidd grinned.

"I would."

And with a grin and a wicked laugh, Kidd pulled the trigger and blood splattered back against the cream-colored hallway wall. Killer licked his lips. Kidd pulled Law's face up close to his, looking into the gleaming golden eyes that were forever unseeing and clucked, slinging the blood-covered navy-haired corpse over his broad shoulder and turned to the blonde. Killer nodded in satisfaction and Law's body a pat on the back that left his hand covered in blood.

"Good job. Glad that's over with," Killer commented, leading Kidd out the front door and down the middle of the street again, and Kidd decided to drag Law's long legs along the ground as they walked to their own personal coffin-maker, a.k.a. a weird kid had nothing better to do and didn't mind the smell of blood. Even Kidd and Killer were.. killers, they tried (somewhat) to give their victims a somewhat proper funeral which consisted of dropping their body in the right coffin, nailing it shut, and then parading the coffin down to a mysterious pit, unceremoniously drop the coffin in, and with a bit of gasoline for fun, ignited the pit into a cremation chamber.

Killer walked down the sidewalk to a wooden door and kicked it open, throwing a wave to the bare-chested coffin-maker with a point back to Kidd. The green-haired coffin-maker only shook his head with a slight smile.

"That's a beauty you got there," the coffin-maker commented with a look at Law as Kidd walked closer, dropping the body into the nearest open 'display' coffin. Killer nodded slightly and looked over at Law's body, unconsciously playing with the small formaldehyde filled jar in his pocket. Law's eyes gleamed in the faint sunlight that was coming through the narrow slats in the blinds to the abandoned warehouse.

"So, what's his story?" the coffin-maker by the name of Zoro asked as he looked Law over, measuring his height, and then moving his body out of the coffin and onto the floor, walking across the warehouse to drag back a darkly stained coffin with a large cross on the top lid. Kidd and Killer looked at each other and didn't say anything, looking anywhere but back at Zoro when he looked up for an answer. With a laugh, he pushed the lid off and moved Law into that coffin, straightening out his limbs and put a hand to his forehead.

"Every time a high-up puppet of Joker's gets killed, they deserve a special coffin," Zoro explained casually like he were talking about the weather, which somewhat frightened Kidd.. him knowing Joker's men and all.., then suddenly had an idea.

"Hey, this isn't that guy Law, is it?" Zoro asked, standing up to look at Kidd. Kidd narrowed his eyes and nodded.. Zoro smiled again and shook his head, walking over to his makeshift desk area and took out a pair of tongs and a knife.

"What are you.."

"..doing? I'm gonna take an eye from him," Zoro explained again with a glint in his one eye. Killer's jaw dropped open.. Kidd had no clue.

"Can I keep it?" Killer asked monotonously as usual, stepping forward. Kidd cursed under his breath.. Zoro gave Killer a weird glare, and then looked back down at those golden eyes of Law's. Zoro shrugged and then nodded.

"Well, he's got two of 'em, right?"

Killer grinned at that and looked away as Zoro did the deed, and then excused himself to go get a jar for his next eye. Kidd couldn't believe that Killer was starting an eyeball collection, of all things.

Zoro was a bit disturbed at himself but quickly forgot about it, touching a hand to his scarred left eyelid. Whatever, right? It was just karma for Law..

Kidd stood off leaning against a pillar, eyes closed as he thought about everything he would have to deal with. Joker.. Joker... the blood on the hallway-wall.. more Joker..

* * *

Meanwhile, Killer was running through the streets gracefully, as usual, back from Law's old storage apartment with two liquid filled jars and was whistling as he went. The wind was picking up and the dark clouds were rushing in as Killer's golden hair floated on the breeze. All of a sudden his concentration was taken off the wind when the sound of crying met his ears. Usually he wasn't one to care, but.. he could see who it was from.

It was from a small child sitting on a concrete step up to an especially torn-up house, and he looked like his parents were just murdered in front of him. Ah, that very well could have been the case, actually. Killer.. felt bad.

"Oi, kid," Killer called out, stopping in the middle of the street to turn toward the kid, who looked up at him with his big blue, watery eyes with tear-stained rosy cheeks. Killer waited for a few moments for the kid to do something, but the kid only bit his lower lip and hugged his beloved teddy bear to his chest, even though the bear's arm was coming off and had some dried blood on the back. The kid could hold it in no longer and burst out in tears again and jumped up, running to cling to Killer's leg.

"Hey, hey.." Killer mumbled, trying to shake the kid off his leg, who only hugged the bear to his jeans and sobbed away. Killer looked around frantically for the kid's parents, if he had any, and started calling out.

"Anyone missin' a kid?" Killer called out to the nearest buildings, but received nothing but the howling cold winds and eerie peace. The kid stopped crying to listen to the wind and momentarily forgot his troubles to look up at Killer. Killer looked back down at the boy and smiled a little.

"Got any parents?"

The kid looked down and shook his head, letting a few silent tears run down his cheeks, and then that's when it hit Killer. The man bent down as much as he could and got a good look at the boy..

The child was terribly bruised and battered and malnourished, skinny as a stick. His eyes were the only lively thing about him, and maybe his light brown curls on his head, and maybe his expressive eyebrows.. Killer felt bad, again, so he smiled even more.

"Want some?"

The kid looked at him, or tried, and pouted at his inability to see Killer's eyes, and so he stood up tall and pushed the golden bangs back. Killer sucked in some air and froze.

The boy's eyes grew even wider and he stared straight into Killer's eyes which seemed to consume him in his entirety. The wind whipped through the two but the two never lost the grip on their staring contest.

Killer blinked at the boy.

Killer had one black eye and one bright blue one, with long lashes decorating them, and Killer hated it. Those eyes had caused too much trouble in the past... but.. the boy didn't reel back and didn't do anything, really... he just stared at them in awe.

"I said, do you want some parents?" Killer repeated as the boy dropped his arms back down to his sides, bangs once more covering eyes. The boy looked around for a second, comprehending, and then pushed Killer's bangs back again and grinned, nodding his head with enthusiasm. Killer smiled and picked the kid up quickly, the bear too, as it began to mist. The boy seemed to like it though, and giggled with arms around Killer's neck as the man ran back through the town to Kidd's place.

The two were greeted at the front by Kidd who looked about ready explode. And Killer realized why.. Kidd was holding the golden eyeball.. and, well, he came back carrying a child after all.

"Look, uh.." Killer started awkwardly as he reached Kidd, and fumbled for words, trying not to drop the boy who clung to his chest. Kidd didn't even look at Killer.. he was boring holes through the child, and then he switched his glare up to Killer. The boy was completely oblivious and stuck out his arms in the wind to feel Killer's golden mane that swished back and forth. Killer shrugged, or tried, and gave Kidd a 'I'm sorry.. I think?' look.

"Here," Kidd said, sticking out his hand, and Killer was confused as to what Kidd was asking for.. "gimme the kid."

Killer gasped a little.. he had become pretty protective of the kid in the few short minutes he had carried him through the worst part of town. Meanwhile, the boy had heard Kidd's deep voice and jumped a little, turning his head around to look at him, and looked very, very scared. Kidd stared back at the kid. The two stayed that way for a while, and Killer turned around for the kid to look over his shoulder. The boy cocked his head at Kidd and then saw the lipstick and bit his lip, shaking in silent laughter till he broke into a fit of giggles. A vein popped in Kidd's forehead.

"What.." Kidd asked, getting up to the boy, nose-to-nose almost, and the boy merely stuck out a finger and smeared the maroon lipstick out onto his pale cheek... Killer nearly laughed out loud once he turned his head to see. The boy just kept on laughing and pointing while Kidd kept his eyes closed tightly, taking deep breaths. He stood back up and then took the boy out of Killer's arms with one hand, and gave Killer his eyeball..

"Thanks, Kidd..." Killer muttered in an odd embarrassment and then took a jar out of his pocket, popped it open and the dropped the eye in, closing it back up. The kid watched on with slight horror and then Killer caught his eye, and he smiled. Killer took his green eye out of his pocket and then held the two jars next to each other and the boy smiled even more, remembering Killer's two eyes with different colors, just like the ones he was showing off. Kidd shook his head and switched the boy back to Killer for the two jars, and then the three all turned and walked into Kidd's house, avoiding that uh..._ that_ hallway.

* * *

~ + eeeeee big plans for this storyyy XD did you like it, huh, huh?! Im sorry I killed off Law, but... whatever, right?... karma.. for something, idk XD thanks for reading, let me know whatcha thought 'bout it + ~


	4. Chapter 4: Family Life?

Chapter 4: Family... Life?

The three sat on the floor in Killer's bedroom, leaning against the same wall in the same crossed-arm position.

Well, it started with Kidd running a hand through his hair, and so Killer thought he could amuse the kid by annoying Kidd, and so he copied his captain and ran a hand through his hair till Kidd noticed, and then he slowly put his hand down and then rested his head back against the wall. Killer copied, sending a look toward the kid who tilted his head in question. Kidd scoffed and pulled out a cigarette and lit it, and Killer copied... the kid hugged his teddy bear and giggled a little, and laughed even harder when Kidd got angry and started jabbing Killer in the side till Killer promised he would stop.

Then.. Kidd crossed his arms and almost immediately the other two followed and Kidd closed his eyes, letting out a puff of smoke angrily. Killer stuck his cigarette in his mouth to follow when Kidd plucked the thing out of his fingers and put in a nearby ash tray with a very annoyed expression which made the boy laugh and fall over onto Killer's lap with his teddy bear. Kidd glowered down at the boy while Killer smirked and righted the boy, placing him back upright next to him. The boy blinked up at him and hugged his arm playfully. Kidd scoffed and looked away in disgust, not being one for kids, then again Killer thought he was the same.

"So, mister, what's your name?" the boy asked suddenly, his little voice lighting up the room in instant like the lightning that was raging outside the house. Kidd looked at Killer, and Killer coughed, wondering how to respond... ya know, his name being 'Killer' and all...

The boy smiled up at them expectantly, thinking maybe 'Roger' or 'David' or.. or something handsome like that. Killer looked around and then have his best smile and opened his mouth.

"I'm Killer," Killer said with his smile, looking down at the boy who looked slightly if not really confused.. Kidd shook his head and took a long drag.. The boy tilted his head and then realized that the handsome blonde guy was being serious. With a raised eyebrow, he silently convinced Killer to push his bangs back again; Killer could read the kid's mind.. and so he took a breath and held his hair back for both to see and smiled.

He felt awkward actually showing off his eyes and not hiding them like normal. He felt... somewhat better, like he was at least accepted by the worst thug and the cutest kid, so what could be bad about that?

"So what's your name, then?" Kidd mumbled, trying to social with their new.. their new.. uh, what's that word, um, oh yeah 'friend'. The boy blinked up at Kidd with big, round eyes as he held his bear in his arms and then smiled shyly.

"Michael.. oh, but what's your name, mister?" Michael asked curiously, leaning on Killer's shoulder. Kidd looked around for a second before responding a bit sheepishly.

"Kidd.."

Michael's eyes opened wide and he scooted away from Killer, putting the blonde a little on edge, and he nodded his head to himself as he remembered something he had heard about a 'Kidd'..

Meanwhile, Kidd shut his eyes and turned away, knowing he struck a bad chord with the boy while Killer looked between the two confusedly.

"I heard my mommy talk about some.. some 'kid' once, and how he.. how he took away daddy.." Michael mumbled, hiding behind Killer's shoulder as he tried to keep his cool and stay close to Kidd. Eustass Kidd felt strange.. a very strange feeling indeed. Like.. he shouldn't have done something, but he still kinda meant to do it, but then he felt bad about it knowing that the one guy he killed that one time was this kid's dad.. but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"But.. you're really scary, but.."

Kidd looked down at Michael with a very contemplative look about him, except maybe he appeared to be slightly constipated as well, and waited for Michael to continue.

"I dunno.. you don't seem that awful," Michael finished, looking up at Kidd with those big happy blue eyes that made Kidd want to go sit in a corner and stab himself. Killer bit his lip and shook his head, putting an arm around Michael, pulling the kid against his side.

"You don't the half of it, kid, but just know that you're at least in strong hands," Killer whispered softly with a smile, his hand still clamping his bangs back. Michael was quiet for a moment and then slowly nodded, as if realizing that maybe Kidd really was a bad person.. but.. they were strong, so they must be good, right? Good guys are always the strongest!

Kidd sat looking down at his hands and wondered how many kids' parents he'd killed and left like Michael.

Killer ignored him and picked Michael up in his arms, flying him like an airplane above his head till he dropped Michael onto his bed, making him laugh as he bounced for a little while. Killer smiled and then looked around, pulling drawers out of his desk till he found what he wanted...

He pulled out the thing and looked at it, slightly nervous, and then shook his head and sighed, putting his long blonde hair up in a high pony-tail. There; his bangs would stay off his face _and _he looked like a girl...

Kidd looked up from his depression to see Killer spin around to test the feel of his pony-tail and immediately imagined the guy in a school girl outfit, flitting around some guy that she/he liked. He couldn't contain himself and burst out laughing, nearly knocking Killer off his feet and startling Michael. The two looked at Kidd while he laughed like.. like.. *gasp* a normal person! Killer smiled and brushed the hair off his shoulder like a girl and made Michael laugh too, and soon Killer was giggling a little bit. The three who were so different and abnormal were actually functioning somewhat like a regular family, other than the two dads were killers and the son was technically kidnapped.

Then... Michael's stomach growled like the thunder that rumbled outside the walls.

The two thugs looked over at the kid who merely smiled sheepishly and held his stomach. Killer raised an eyebrow and picked up the kid on his back and hauled him to the kitchen, which appeared decent enough to outsiders, and set the boy down on the counter to sit down and watch the blonde cook some food.

"So? Whatdya want?" Killer asked, opening up the fridge to show Michael to him what was an infinite amount of food. Michael's eyes went wide and he couldn't choose.. so Killer just ignored the weird look and pulled out some bacon, 'cause what kid doesn't like bacon?

* * *

After frying up quite a bit of bacon for the three manly men, Michael was stuffed and the other two would live through the night.

"I think.. I ate too much.." Michael mumbled, wobbling as he walked around, holding his belly. Kidd narrowed his eyes at Michael's back and thought he caught a hint of something.. some sort of.. I don't know, a feeling that maybe something was going to happen to Michael sooner or late-

And that's when Michael, the poor lad, accidentally might have spilled the contents of his stomach onto the floor.. Kidd closed his eyes shut and looked away in disgust while Killer's eyes went wide and he looked around, like some sort of sick-child-fairy would appear to help him out, but no...

"W-what do I do?!" Killer screeched, getting out of his chair and hurried over to Michael and tried his best just to ignore the mess for the moment.

"I don't know! You're the mom here!" Kidd replied, standing up but not having the faintest idea of what to do. Killer mumbled stuff to himself and finally picked up Michael and carted him off to the bathroom, and left him there for the moment to come back and decide on how to.. deal with... _that_.

"I didn't ask for this, Killer.." Kidd groaned, leaning against the kitchen counter. Killer opened and closed his mouth with no sound coming out, because quite frankly, he hadn't asked for _that _either, but he was the one who was going to have to deal with it.

* * *

After a very clumsy job of cleaning up, and some gagging in the process, Kidd and Killer sat back... and then Killer remembered that the kid was still in the bathroom. So the blonde hustled to the bathroom to find Michael still in his dirty clothes but looking quite dumbfounded, but not upset.

"You.. you okay?" Killer asked quietly, bending down to his level. Michael nodded and reached his arms up for Killer to pick him up, and he did, avoiding any sort of mess that would be transferred. Bringing the boy back to his room, Killer set Michael down and looked him over, deciding what to do..

"Here.. let me get you something else to wear.."

So Michael raised his arms and Killer pulled off his shirt as cleanly as possible and then had the boy take off his dirty pants. Killer was just glad that Michael was potty trained..

Draping the clothes over his shoulder, Killer walked out of his bedroom and nearly ran into Kidd, who had a.. a troubled, no, a _concerned _look on his face. Killer smirked.

"He's fine. Now.. uhh.. put his clothes in the washer, would you? Oh, and bring back one of my shirts."

Kidd didn't even respond and nodded, taking the clothes from Killer, put them in the washer and snagged an old shirt of Killer's that was red with a black stripe down the middle. Walking back, Kidd threw the shirt to Killer who brought it back to Michael who calmly sat on the floor, looking around him like the room was the most interesting thing ever. Killer took the opportunity to give the kid some fun.. and tossed the shirt onto his head.

Michael flailed his arms at first in shock and then started laughing, pulling the shirt off of his head. Killer laughed with the kid and then helped Michael into his shirt-dress-tunic and then eventually still had to carry the boy around to avoid him tripping everywhere.

* * *

"Killer..?" Michael chirped, scrambling up on the couch in between grown ups and onto Killer's lap, who merely hummed back in question, "I'm sorry that I threw up in your pretty house. That bacon was really good, though.."

Killer smiled and awkwardly patted Michael's head while Kidd looked a bit upset over not being apologized to. It was Kidd's house, after all, he earned it! Well.. not really, but whatever! But he let it go with a deep breath and thought about how suddenly poor he was, with half his frickin' fortune gone to some Joker puppet. Kidd closed his eyes and saw Law's staring back at him right before he shot the bastard, and Killer still had at least one of his eyes, which Kidd was still finding very, very odd..

At around ten, after trying to watch some kid-friendly shows but failing miserably, Michael was curled up between Kidd and Killer on the couch, sleepily watching T.V. When an unfamiliar word popped up...

Hey..." Michael said with a yawn, "What's a 'whore'?"

Kidd and Killer looked at each other, Kidd grabbed the T.V. Remote, and turned off the T.V.

"Ahahaha.. funny story, um, well you see it's time for bed," Kidd said quickly whilst snatching Michael up into his arms and slightly freaked out when Michael snuggled up against his chest, the boy's brown curly hair tickling the man's neck. Killer watched in amusement as Kidd was resisting the temptation to drop the kid. Then it hit them.. where would the kid sleep? The was always the couch, but if someone would be stupid enough to berak in.. So there was Kidd or Killer's bedrooms.

The two men looked at each other, then at Michael, then back up at each other with a synchronized sigh and statement.

"I guess he can stay with you..."  
"I guess he can stay with you..."

Killer narrowed his eyes at Kidd who merely shoved Michael into his arms, turning to walk into his bedroom. Killer blinked at Kidd's bedroom door after it shut tightly and then he looked down at their momentarily-adopted-son who was already fast asleep in his arms.

With a happy sigh and smile, Killer walked back into his own bedroom, shut the door, and tucked Michael into his bed with the bear, climbing into bed after he got changed; it would take a while for the blonde to get used to a kid wrapping himself up with the long golden mane during the nighttime..

* * *

~ + thanksss.. for readinggg.. I switched an amount of time that was in the first chapter... so this is all taking place 1 MONTH before the first scene, not just one week, which I just realized was too short of a time period... so yeahhh~ XD + ~


	5. Chapter 5: The First Adventures

Chapter 5: The First Adventures

The night passed by with the roommates sleeping luxuriously as Kidd rolled and shuddered and couldn't sleep worth a darn. As soon as the sun peeked between the damp rain-stained brick buildings and through Kidd's window, the red-head groaned and cursed the gods, rolling out of bed groggily. Kidd scratched his bare chest and pulled open the top drawer of his dresser, pulling out his pistol.

Making a face at the thing, he yawned and pointed the gun at the exterior wall and blew a hole through it, jolting poor Michael awake.

Meanwhile, Killer yawned and sat up stretching as if the singing birds had woken him up while Michael clung to the blonde like a lifeline.

"Killer, Killer, what was that?!" the boy squeaked, tugging lightly on the man's hair. Killer merely smirked sleepily down at the boy with his hair severely messed up in a comic manner.

"Ah, just the morning gunshot, kid. Better get used to the new alarm clock."

Michael tried to blink and calm himself down but ended up falling backwards into bed again and soon fell asleep. With a pat to the kid's head, Killer swung his long legs over the side of the bed and was about to stand up when Kidd barged into the room and pulled him out by his hair to the living room.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Hey, I have to talk to you, so don't complain!"

How Kidd's talking to him would comfort Killer into closing his mouth was supposed to work, Killer didn't know, but decided to shut his mouth anyway.

Landing abruptly on the couch, Killer looked up at Kidd who paced the room, stopped to light a cigarette, and then continued to pace. Killer let down his hair and flipped it around to get used to it again... and he just wanted to take a shower...

"Killer."

"Hmm?"

"The kid..."

"Michael?"

"Yeah.. him.. I can't do this. I'm not made for this kinda thing.. hell, your name is Killer but you're like a mom to him after a day and half!" Kidd threw his arms up, biting down on his cigarette in frustration, but then he calmed down and put a hand quietly in his pocket while Killer watched him, "but..."

"But..?"

"Damnit, I feel.. I feel bad alright?! I guess I just.."

Killer flicked his eyes towards a flash of color he saw through the cracked bedroom door to his room and then looked back at Kidd and said nothing, waiting. Kidd sighed and sat next to his.. his friend and shoved his cigarette in the ash tray, even though he had just lit it, and sat with a depressed look.

"I guess I just never really thought about what I was doing before," Kidd finally croaked out, resting his head on his hands. Killer nodded slowly, thinking the same thing.

"Killer, I kill kids' parents like it's nothin', and I don't care, it's just that the kids'll get killed out there like their parents did. Hell.. we blow up buildings, Killer, buildings with probabl-"

"Stop."

"Why?!" Kidd roared, standing up tall while looking down at Killer with a sneer.

"Truth be told any parents around here are bound to be bad ones that are most likely the ones that would kill their own kids," Killer explained calmly while Kidd looked out the window at the damp red-brick buildings and narrow streets he knew so well. Kidd knew the blonde was probably right.. the only people around there were drug-addicts and lunatics; neither would willing have kids which only meant another mouth to feed. Maybe it was better for the kids.. no, eiher way they would be helpless and starving until, if, they grew older and stronger.

"Fine," Kidd whispered, looking down at his bare feet and red pajama pants. Killer looked up at Kidd, and then the slowly-opening bedroom door, "We'll keep 'im."

Michael peeked through the doorway at Killer and then looked at Kidd's pale back, noticing a scar or two. The boy realized what the older folk were talking about and his blue eyes started to sparkle. Killer blinked.

"What?"

"I said we could keep Michael!"

"We should meet a trail?"

"Fuck you, Killer, fuck you.. Michael's staying here."

Killer crossed his arms with a smirk as Michael ran out of his room and ran to constrict Kidd's leg in a crushing hug while laughing happily. Kidd grimaced and tried to shake the kid off, but Michael's happy grin made him stop resisting and just stay still, grabbing the kid's curiosity.

"Hey.. I'm sorry."

Michael blinked up at Kidd innocently, not knowing what he meant. Killer looked on with narrowed eyes.

"Do I need to spell everything out for you people? I'm sorry about your dad, I just.. no, there's no excuse. I'm sorry and I can't ever make up for it," Kidd declared with a straight face, looking directly down at Michael's big blue eyes and curly brown hair and the red and black shirt that the boy had been holding up to avoid tripping over it. Michael let go of Kidd's leg and stood back, looking at the ground while concentrating very hard. Kidd looked at the wall, waiting for anything.

"It's okay."

Kidd and Killer looked down at Michael who looked up at Kidd completely and whole-heartedly, with a few stray tears staining his cheeks.

"Because you're my dad now.. right?" Michael chirped, smiling up at Kidd with a few sniffles. Kidd didn't know how to react.. Killer just smiled. Looking desperately around the ground for responses, Kidd bit his lip and wanted to really know if Michael was being honest, even if the kid was only like 6.

Michael stuck his arms up to Kidd and Kidd couldn't help but pick up the boy and set him on his shoulders, his curly hair brushing the ceiling due to Kidd's abnormal height.

"Don't go breaking his head off, Mr. Suddenly-Emotional," Killer said, pointing to Michael who still looked like he was having the time of his life. Kidd looked up upside-down-ly at Michael and then stooped down a little, allowing some extra room.

Then Killer had an idea...

"Kidd, let's go outside for a while before breakfast," Killer said with a smile, putting his hair back up in a messy bun. Kidd had to resist laughing as he followed Michael's 'mother' out of the front door and into the sunny but damp street below.

"It's so nice outside!" Michael burst out, throwing his hands in the air as if to catch the mid-summer sunlight. Kidd held onto the boy's legs and looked around for any wandering retards, and turned back to Killer when the coast was clear; none seemed to mind the fact that they were all half-naked. Killer, meanwhile, stretched and warmed up for something, and Kidd then understood..

Het set Michael down on the nearest spot of dry curb and walked back to the middle of the street, cracking his necks and rolling his bare shoulders in preparation for a great show. Michael sat there quietly, looking on curiously.. waiting.

"Ready.." Killer whispered.

"Set..!" Kidd said, taking stance with a smirk.

"Go!" Michael yelled out, happy to be including himself in whatever they were doing. The older two smirked and ran at each other, and pulled back their arms to punch each other square in the face. Killer laughed as he slid out of the way and swung a leg out to kick Kidd in the back. Kidd turned and caught Killer's foot, using the same momentum to spin and launch the blonde flying down the road.

Killer landed on his shoulder and rolled on the wet crumbling road, picking up a few cuts and scrapes, but who cares..

Kidd grinned evilly and rushed up behind Killer to plant his heel in the man's back, making Killer topple forward to catch himself with his unfortunate forehead.

Michael sat back and watched with wide eyes as they just kept on going, with Kidd getting beat-up a bit as well. But as soon as they both got locked punching each other's jaw, the bell for breakfast rang in their heads.

* * *

After a calmer, less-food breakfast for Michael, Killer decided to take a shower. As the blonde walked off towards the bathroom, Michael snuck up to him and clung to Killer's long leg and was dragged along silently for a while till they got to the bathroom doorway. Kidd leaned back and watched in silent amusement from the couch. Killer blinked and looked down at Michael.

"What are you doin'?"

Michael blinked back up at Killer.

"Holding your leg..?"

"..."

"I wanna take a bath, too!"

Killer nodded slowly while looking back at Kidd who threatened to burst into laughter. With a sigh, Killer ushered Michael into the bathroom.

* * *

Michael didn't exactly get a bath, but he did get his first shower; the sign of a man. At first, he was pretty sure it was just raining on the inside of the house, but Killer pointed out a weird looking thing with holes in it that actually just teleported the rain from some other place!

The shower took a while only because it always takes Killer a long time to wash all his hair, and then they hopped out and let Kidd take his shower afterwards.

While in Killer's bedroom, the blonde stood back and observed the problem again; Michael stood flapping his arms in a large white t-shirt like a bird and nearly fell on his face as he attempted to waddle up to Killer. Killer put a thoughtful finger to his lip and thought about this problem, and turned on his heel to calmly walk back up to the bathroom door. He opened it and peeked in, scaring Kidd into fell backwards in the tub with an almighty thud and nearly breaking his foot on the tub fixture. Killer winced slightly as Kidd bellowed out a long and loud string of curses, regaining painful balance on his feet.

"We're gonna go shopping," Killer monotonously to the fuming naked captain and closed the door with a wave. Kidd blinked and then calmed, realizing what Killer had said.. "shopping".. and that could only mean one thing.

"WAIT!"

Kidd jumped out the tub and nearly slipped into the door again on the tile floor, grabbing onto the doorknob for support.. and ended up opening the door and banging himself back onto the floor again. Killer stopped where he was and slowly turned around, putting a hand to his mouth at seeing Kidd lying on the floor spread-eagle and dripping in water.

"Damn it all.." Kidd moaned, hoisting himself back up to his feet again. He was pretty sure his tailbone was going to break if he fell one more time..

Michael blinked and ran as fast as possible to Killer to see what was happening and then blinked up at Kidd in his naked glory, and then slowly backed up to hide behind Killer's leg upon seeing Kidd's face which was nearly as red as his hair. Kidd turned and grabbed a towel off the rack and tied it around his waist, very flustered.

"So, what am I waiting for?" Killer asked calmly with a smirk, raising an eyebrow at Kidd. Kidd scoffed..

"You're taking _him _'shopping'? What's wrong with you!? Do you forget who we are no-?!"

"I'm just gonna get him some fuckin' clothes. Calm down," Killer responded in a bored tone, knowing full well that Kidd had thought he'd meant finding another prostitute.. Michael said nothing and slowly inched away from Killer's leg and stared up at Kidd with confusion. Kidd gave the kid an unsure look. Michael slowly shuffled up to Kidd, and looked down at the ground, and then an evil grin showed up... Michael quickly reached up and pulled Kidd's towel off and then turned and threw at Killer's face, picking up his t-shirt-dress to run away as fast as his legs could carry him while laughing like an idiot.

Kidd's face paled and he mumbled something inaudible to himself, backing up behind most of the door.

"It's not like I haven't seen you naked before.." Killer stated, rolling his eyes. Kidd scoffed.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's any less embarrassing!"

"Eh. That's your problem, Mr. Sensitive."

"You're saying you're any better than me?!"

"Yes."

"..Well aren't you the sl-"

"Killer, Killer! Let's goooo!" Michael, chirped, running back up to the blonde and jumping up to pull the towel back off of his face and tossed it back to Kidd's face. Killer smirked and shot a two-finger wave to Kidd as he turned on his heel and followed Michael down the hallway and out the front door, not even noticing the large, red, iron-y stain on the wall...

* * *

Killer and Kidd didn't own a car...

too expensive...

ehehe..

Killer ended carrying Michael after 10 minutes of difficult walking through their town, and after 20 more minutes Killer and Michael came across the nearest, happiest looking clothing shop. Michael looked up at the lit-up sign and 'ooh'-ed and 'ahh'-ed as they passed through automatic sliding doors and into the shop, people shuffling away and staring from afar at Killer.

"Finally takin' responsibility for one, eh?" one man commented under his breath as he watched Killer walk toward the kid's section of the store.

"Hey.. isn't that-?!"  
"Yeah.. it is! But don't say his name! He'll kill you, too!"  
"But what about that puny kid with him..?"

Killer sneered under his bangs and turned his head toward the two boys who were peeking out from behind a row of shelving, and the boys froze in place while Killer laughed and set down Michael on his feet.

"Look around. Take what you like," Killer told Michael, leaning against a shelf while Michael blinked and looked around, waddling awkwardly around till he found a few shirts and a few pairs of shorts. Killer stole away quietly for a second to look on his own for something.. and when he found the perfect pair, he ran back and found Michael being helped out of a pile of clothes by the two boys, who were secretly planning on saving the boy from Killer. Killer raised an eyebrow and smirked as the boys froze again and let go of Michael.

"We didn't do anything to him!" the first curly-haired boy said.

"Yeah!- well.. actually, we were saving him from you, you..! You sick bastard!" the second black-haired boy yelped, pointing a small dagger at Killer who merely stood there and created an awkward atmosphere; Michael was starting to think that Killer was designed to do that, honestly..

Michael only looked up at the boys calmly, and then looked at the dagger with wide eyes, and then looked at Killer, who hadn't moved a muscle except to smirk.

"No need to do that," Killer said finally, unfolding his arms. The boys both reeled back at the movement and tried to hide behind each other.

"Killer, Killer! Look at all the cool stuff I got!" Michael announced happily in the middle of everything, holding up a shirt and a pair of pants for his guardian to see. Killer smiled and gave the boy a thumbs-up. The first boy paled.. the kid actually knew _the_ Killer?! The 'massacre man'?!

"A kid shouldn't have so many options, though, so let's pick out what you like most," Killer said, thinking secretly in his mind the perfect look for his little model. Michael put down his arms and blinked, then nodded happily as Killer pulled him up to his feet. The boys were around the corner, keeping an eye on the two.. just in case.

"You think _he_'s just foolin' the kid?" the first said.

"I can't tell.." the second said.

Killer looked through the pile with Michael, and then he found it..

'It' was a black tank top with bright blue trim, and it would look sooooooo good on Michael, for sure, the kid would wear it everyday with a pair of.. ooh, khaki cargo shorts and a black belt.. and...

Killer kneeled down and told Michael to close his eyes. Michael closed his eyes and put his hands over them too to make sure, and Killer put something over his head and down around his neck.. something.. something heavy?

"There!"

Michael opened his eyes and blinked, and looked down at the thing around his neck..

It was a pair of black goggles similar to Kidd and Killer's and looked excellent on Michael, or so Killer thought.

"God, do you look smokin'!" Killer teased, nudging Michael with an elbow and realized that the kid was too young to even comprehend.. he sighed, "here, come with me, let's get these awesome new clothes on you!"

So Killer started walking toward the changing room with the clothes hanging over his arm and let Michael toddle along behind him. Michael snuck up to Killer and took his tan hand in his own small one, and giggled happily as Killer held on just as tightly.

"Thank you.." Michael whispered, leaning into Killer's leg in affection. Killer smiled down at the boy and walked into the nearest open stall, closing the door behind them.

"Oh my god, he's gonna kill him in there!" the first boy screamed, shaking the other boy by his shoulders till he got tired.

"Aahh.. dizzy.."

"Luffy, now's not the time!"

"Usopp.. then you go save the kid.."

"Luffy, shut up and come with me to be a brave warrior that we've always wanted to be! This is our chance to take down Killer, _the _Killer!" Usopp shouted, slapping his hand to his biceps to show his strength. Luffy regained balance and thought about it, finding himself going along with Usopp towards the changing room and looking under stalls till they found Killer's brown boots and blue pant-legs.

"Aha! Give up, Killer! We're here to save the boy from your evil hands!" Usopp declared, banging on the stall door while Luffy took a fighting stance beside him. Killer finished pulling the tank top over Michael's head and then turned his head slowly toward the door. Michael blinked up at him, and pulled the shorts on by himself.

Killer stood up tall and opened the door with a sigh, towering directly over Usopp; it was Usopp's 5'7 against Killer's 6'4. Luffy shook in fear but held his ground.

"The one time I come near here and I'm not slicing someone up, I get stood up against by a couple-a-kids who think they got a chance!" Killer mumbled, inching Usopp farther and farther back till Usopp's back was against the wall and Killer was right over him, pulling a scythe from its scabbard threateningly. Usopp screeched and yelped and begged for mercy while Luffy froze and then tried to punch Killer in the side, only making Killer glare at him.

"I'm not doing anything, you see! I'm just here getting some clothes.." Killer reasoned, gesturing back to Michael who tried putting the black belt through the belt loops but missed a few in the process, looking rather pitiful. Usopp and Luffy didn't know what to do..

"Well.. yeah?! I b-bet that you're just dressing him up to make him look g-good in his coffin!" Usopp stuttered, pulling his dagger back out and at Killer's throat. Michael looked up as Killer sighed and stepped back from Usopp, shoving his hands in his pockets moodily.

"No. I'm his.. his.."

Michael blinked up at Killer.

"You're my daddy!" Michael exclaimed happily, running from his forgotten white t-shirt to Killer and hugged his leg like he was his teddy bear. Killer sighed in relief and picked Michael up in his arms. Michael grinned and pushed Killer's bangs back to see his eyes and..

Usopp and Luffy stared and backed away.. with stars in their eyes.

"S-SO COOL!" Luffy drooled, taking in every aspect of the different colored eyes. Usopp nodded with him and stared while Michael and Killer blinked at them. How.. how could their eyes look like stars?

"...Here.. let me put my hair up..?" Killer said, taking a band off his hands and putting his hair up in a high ponytail to keep the boys content. The two onlookers only fangirled more at how long Killer's hair was, and how it swished it in the wind (there wasn't even any wind..) and all that jazz while Killer fixed Michael's belt and pulled his black goggles out from under his tank top, resting them on the kid's collarbone.

"There.. perfect," Killer mused, standing back to look at Michael's outfit... oh, new shoes...

Killer ran out and made his fangirls watch over his son while he quickly snatched up a pair of black boots for Michael. Once the boy was wearing the boots, the look was complete.

"C'mon, let's go," the blonde said, taking Michael's hand in his own and led him out of the changing room and back to the forgotten pile. Killer and Michael blinked at it. Luffy and Usopp followed like dogs follow their master, and Killer had the two carry the pile to the check-out line.

The register lady was trembling and threatened to scream, if needed, upon seeing Killer approaching from afar, and then found herself distracted by his eyes and hair, and ended up letting Killer walk off with the entire pile for 5 dollars.

"Who was that..?" the lady asked her nearest co-worker, who reminded her that it was Killer, but the lady shook her head.. "that handsome guy couldn't have been Killer.."

"Yeah, you're right.. and with those kids tagging along with him, too.."

"Nothing's cuter than a guy who likes kids!"

* * *

"We're home," Killer yelled as he stepped back in his house, smiling as Michael flew past his legs and into the house and past 'that' wall again without noticing. Usopp and Luffy wrestled themselves through the door to pile the clothes onto the floor just past the doorway.

"Give us a tour of your castle, O mighty prince!" Usopp asked, bowing down with Luffy in front of Killer, and were thrown out of their trance as Michael led a yawning Kidd out into the room, who narrowed his eyes at the teenagers in his house..

"Who're you punks?" Kidd asked the two, who yelped and went scrambling towards the front door only to find Killer blocking it from their reach. Luffy's teeth chattered and he turned his head back towards Kidd who was advancing on them, sending him into a panic mode and jumped into Usopp's arms, only to fall back to the floor since Usopp couldn't hold anything at that point.

"E-E-E-ustass... Kidd!"

"What'd you just call me?" Kidd asked, poking his face up into Luffy's, making the boy scream and lash out and try to do anything he could against the man, but to no avail.

"They said your name, _Eustass_," Killer teased, crossing his arms while Kidd glared daggers up at the blonde, and all were pulled out of their thoughts when Michael let out an interested chirp as he discovered the blood-stain on the wall.

"Kidd, Kidd, what's this?" Michael, poking a finger in the half-dried liquid and was about to lick it when both men pushed and shoved and scrambled their way over to keep Michael from ingesting the quack doctor's blood. Usopp and Luffy stared at the blood stain with wide eyes and froze again... what did they get themselves into..?!

"Nothing, nothing.. just some red paint!" Kidd muttered quickly, trying anything to keep Michael from trying anything else.

"Yeah, yeah, it'd be bad if you ate any of it!" Killer continued, dragging Michael to the kitchen to wash his hands.

Usopp's vision focused only on the stain and he could just see what happened in his mind... and he let out a blood-curdling scream and dragged Luffy with him and out of the house, taking off down the street to anywhere but there.

Kidd, Killer and Michael blinked in unison.

"They're probly gonna call the cops on us," Kidd noted calmly, standing back while crossing his arms.

"Yeah, but that's nothing we can't handle," Killer replied, crossing his arms in the same way as Kidd.

"Yeah, stupid cops can't do anything," Michael agreed, folding his still-wet arms like his parents. Kidd and Killer looked at each other.. they hoped that Michael was just trying to act 'cool' like his parents..

"Anyway.. you've got some awesome clothes there, kid," Kidd commented, noting the goggles around Michael's neck. Killer smiled and then gathered up the rest of the clothes in his arms to bring.. to bring.. well, there's a problem there.

"Where are we gonna..?" Killer mumbled, dropping the clothes back onto the ground, making Kidd a bit annoyed. Meanwhile, Michael ran around, getting used to his new boots and the funny _thunk _they made as he walked. He still listened to his dads' conversation, though.

"There's more than one story in this building, you know.." Kidd reminded Killer. Killer put a finger to his mouth to gnaw on while he thought about it and he watched Michael for a moment before shaking his head.

"One of us would have to move up with him then," Killer decided, crossing his arms. Kidd looked back at Michael and then back at the blonde, "I don't like the idea of him being along up there, you know.."

"Well, yeah. So.. I guess you can move up there and I'll stay down here to be the first indestructable line of defense," Kidd concluded, punching Killer in the arm to show that the blonde was a wimp. Killer laughed and then punched back. Soon the two were fighting all-out, and it was only when the sounds of sirens became audible did they stop. Kidd backed away. Michael ran to Killer's leg and held on in fright.

"Go and toss me my silver pistol and then get your ass and his up to the top of this motherfucker," Kidd cussed, and walked to lock and lean against the front door to temporarily keep the police at bay. Killer did what he was told and then saluted Kidd, carrying Michael up to the top, jumping 4 by 4 to amuse the child.

Kidd shoved the silver pistol in the front of his pants and took out his other pistol to hold in his hands. The cops banged on the door and tried fruitlessly to unlock and push it open. Finally, Kidd smirked and stepped away from the door just as they slammed through it with a battering ram, soon flooding the entranceway around Kidd's back.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP, EUSTASS KIDD!"

Eustass Kidd grinned and dropped his pistol, raising his maroon-nailed hands in the air. A cop inched slowly towards his back with his gun pointed at him, and just at the last second, the red-head pulled the second pistol from his pants and shot the cop square in the forehead, kicking the man back towards the others who aimed and shot at him. Kidd snatched the other pistol from the ground and shot at anything that moved, and did his fair-job of kicking and jabbing when necessary, too.

Soon, Kidd survived with only some minor gunshot wounds and a tazer wound, but that was it, and Kidd walked away from the ordeal grinning.

As the last round of shots were fired, Killer told Michael to stay put until they came back, and ran downstairs to help Kidd haul the bodies off to Zoro as they had done the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that..

Michael found his entertainment in playing with the simple white curtains in the abandoned bedroom, and he bounced on the squeaky bed, and drew on the walls with some crayons he found in the bottom drawer of the wooden dresser. Finally he looked out the window at the brick buildings and the afternoon sun as it wove its way through the buildings and off of windows to his eyes. He grinned and stood on his tiptoes as he saw his two heroes walking back down the street with red paint somewhat splattered on themselves, but Michael paid that part no heed and ran down the flights of steps as quickly as possible and met Kidd halfway down them at the 2nd floor.

"Hey kid," Kidd said, suddenly aware of the blood that coated his chest. Michael didn't care and jumped up into Kidd's arms, happy to feel his dad's strong arms again.

"Hi Kidd," Michael replied happily, putting his goggle up over his eyes to look through, and giggled at the sudden dark shading of everything, "These are so cool!"

"Yeah, I bet," Eustass said with a bit of hidden sarcasm, and smirked as he carried Michael under his arm like a barrel down the stairs to the living room where Killer was cleaning up the hardwood floors with a mop.

"Hey Michael," Killer said with a wave, and continued to press the wet mop onto the floor to get the blood off, and then dunked it back in the bucket to wash the blood off before it dried anywhere, like the wall..

"Let me do that and go help the kid get organized somewhere," Kidd told Killer as he snatched the mop from his hands and scrubbed the floor for him. Killer blinked at the red-head's unusual kindness and shrugged, taking arm-fulls of clothing up the stairs to the bedroom that Michael was just in minutes before. Michael liked the view and the feel of it, but... the bed might've been a bit too lumpy for his liking..

"You like this room, huh?" Killer asked, dumping the clothes onto the floor to organize and put away later. Michael nodded and then led Killer by the hand to his almost unrecognizable crayon picture of Kidd and Killer on the cream-colored wall.

"Look, look at what I drew!" Michael beckoned happily, putting his hands on his hips in pride of his work. The only way Killer could tell what he was looking at was the red and gold streaks and the black shapes which were their goggles. Killer smirked and put a hand on Michael's curly hair.

"Good job, bud. I love it," Killer said, and then he looked around the picture.."but where's your name?"

"My name?"

"Yeah, once you draw something, you have to put your name on it so that people know who drew it," the blonde explained, and then he looked around the floor for a crayon and then handed it to Michael to sign his name. Michael put the crayon to the wall and shakily drew an 'M'.. but couldn't go any further.

"I don't know the rest.." Michael admitted, dropping the crayon to the floor grumpily. Killer raised and eyebrow and realized that they actually.. had to... teach the kid... Killer sighed.

"That's okay. Good enough for now. Now let's get your clothes put away, right?"

"Right!" Michael affirmed, hugging Killer's leg lovingly.

Killer smiled down at his son and rubbed the boy's head.

"I love you, daddy!"

"Love you too, kid."

* * *

~ + AWWW XD hope you liked this chapterrrr! stay tuned cuz theres probly gonna be like.. idk, 15 more chapters... _ XD + ~


	6. Chapter 6: Wild, Wild West

Chapter 6: Wild, Wild West

So later that night, after Killer and Michael had fully moved everything up to their new rooms at the top, Kidd slept spread-eagle across his bed, snoring as the wind blew through the cracked window, and the moonlight flooded his room like a silver version of the sun.

It was about 2 A.M. when they came..

Kidd had forgotten about his deal.. and apparently Killer did too, or didn't want to risk waking up Michael to deal with it.. so when a soft knocking at the back door woke up Kidd, he momentarily thought he was being ambushed. He slipped silently out of the bed and grabbed his pistol from his coat pocket which hung around the doorknob of the door, and stepped quietly around the first floor till he met the back door.

The person kept knocking, growing louder, and Kidd saw the faint shadows of multiple people through the dirty window. He scoffed and walked up to the door, flinging it open with one hand as he put his pistol to the first unlucky person's forehead who screeched and raised up their hands. The man who stood next to him rolled his eyes and placed his own barrel against Kidd's neck and the two gunmen stood there for a moment while several men dragged along people, women, at their sides; women dressed in barely anything at all..

Kidd closed his eyes tightly as he remembered what he had set up a week before and lowered his gun, but didn't leave the doorway.

"Here. Your lovely-ladies are here for you," the gunman stated, stepping in front of the cowardly assistant. Kidd rubbed a hand over his face and just shook his face, turning away from the door as he pointed his gun back to the other man's chest.

"Not now and not again.." Kidd said tiredly, and then lowered his gun and shot between the people's feet, making the girls scream and the men shout and lunge toward him for disobeying his promise, and Kidd merely shot at them all till what remained of their battered selves limped off elsewhere and away from there.

Kidd stepped back in the house and locked up the door, groaning about stupid pimps and stupid need-for-sleep, and practically feel back asleep before his body hit the bed again.

* * *

At about 8, Killer woke up naturally, somewhat confused as to why Kidd didn't wake him up like usual. Maybe he was just too far up to hear it.. or he was just too tired to hear it. The blonde got up and stretched a little, tying his hair up in a ponytail as he went to check on Michael who was across the hall from him.

"Morning, bud," Killer greeted, peaking his head inside the room to find Michael with his goggles up over his eyes and pretending to punch and kick like his parents did. He thought he was the awesomest thing yet, and, yeah, in his mind maybe he was. It took a few delayed seconds for the boy to notice his dad standing in the doorway, and he squealed in happiness when he saw.

"Morning!" Michael said excitedly, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead as he ran up and hugged Killer's leg. Killer smirked and picked up Michael, and hauled him down the stairs to go see what was up with Kidd and his inner alarm-clock.

"Morning, Ki.."

Killer looked around the kitchen and living room as he set Michael down on the floor, who immediately padded off to Kidd's bedroom door and pushed it open, creaking slightly. Just as the kid had gotten past the doorway, Killer remembered what day it was and instantly regretted letting the kid wander off to _there.._

"Michael...?" Killer asked, hurriedly walking off to meet up with Michael who only blinked up at him and then looked at Kidd who lay snoring away in his bed, _alone_, with no strange girl.. phew. Killer let out a sigh of relief and let Michael do whatever he wanted to wake up Kidd, and set out to cook breakfast.

"Wake upppp~" Michael groaned as he attempted to pull the red-head out of the bed by his arm, and only ended up loosing his grip and fell back on his butt. The kid pouted and crossed his arms, and then scrambled up next to Kidd and decided to pull on Kidd's hair. Kidd grumbled and swatted at Michael in his sleep, and only nearly avoided slapping the poor child in the face, and then flipped over and fell back asleep. Michael puffed his cheeks and thought... and then the smell of food lured him back into the kitchen where he got first dibs on pancakes.

Killer took the opportunity to play a prank on Kidd, who somehow just naturally avoided all the blonde's pranks without having any prior knowledge to them or anything.

So Killer told Michael to stay put in the kitchen and snuck into Kidd's room and closed the door behind him...

Several minutes later, Kidd then had a very nice purple Sharpie mustache and goatee, his pants were pulled down, and Killer finished off by shooting a bullet off right next to Kidd's head at the already hole-y alarm-clock wall. Killer placed the gun next to Kidd's arm just as the red-head shot up and instinctively grabbed the pistol and aimed it at Killer.

"The fuck d'you think you're doin', scaring me like that!?" Kidd yelped, wide-eyed and red faced, and then hurriedly pulled up his pants after noticing that they were down for some reason. Killer smirked and shrugged calmly, turning halfway towards the door.

"Thought I might wake you up for once and.. thought you might want to know how you look at the moment," Killer suggested, opening Kidd's bedroom door. He bowed and walked out backwards like a royal servant, and Kidd was very.. nervous.

Killer walked back to the dining room table and joined in the pancake-fest with Michael, and had a hard time controlling himself as he heard Kidd throw something in the bathroom upon seeing his reflection. The bathroom door slammed open and Kidd came rushing out in a fury, pointing to his own face.

"O.K.! Do you know the meaning of the word 'permanent'?!" Kidd bellowed, particularly toward the assumed culprit.. aka, Michael. The kid blinked and shook his head innocently, but couldn't help the grin and few giggles that resulted in seeing Kidd in such a pitiful state. Kidd fumed and stormed back to the bathroom, trying everything to get the accursed purple drawn-on facial hair off of his pale skin. Killer started laughing uncontrollably while Kidd started scrubbing at his face with such a intensity that the other two thought that the man's face would just scrape off and leave a bloody-mess to deal with afterwards.

Michael looked between the two and then grinned as Killer told him the tale..

"He's just mad because he's never been able to grow a beard!" Killer whispered and soon regretted it as Kidd whirled around and glared at Killer, freezing the room.

"You.." Kidd growled, and ended up chasing the laughing blonde all over the house and out the front door, into the street where it was already starting to become hot and humid. Luckily, there was somewhat of a breeze, and Michael at least liked that part while he followed the other two out onto the front porch where he watched in awe once more as Killer actually was just dodging Kidd who swung at him in anger.

"You really need to work on your anger-management problems, Eustass-san, this could be a major problem," Killer teased, throwing a punch to Kidd's face for good measure, and received a growl and a punch right back to the scraped-up forehead where he had landed on the road the day before.

"You really need to watch your fuckin' mouth!" Kidd hissed back.

Michael just smiled at his dads' fight, and noticed a few bums that came up the road to watch the brawl, placing their bets on the punks.

"I bet tha' kid on Killer's win," one man said, pointing a jagged finger towards Michael, who only blinked back at him. The man's opposer scoffed.

"Wha's he to ya?" he responded, and they both laughed at each other and wound up both on the ground in a drunken mess. Killer watched the men carefully, hands behind his back as he dodged and threw a kick every once and a while to keep Kidd at it.

"Look behind you," Killer whispered in Kidd's ear as he passed behind his friend like a ninja and then whirled back around again as Kidd turned around to look at a few of the bums dangerously close to Michael and their wide-open front door. Kidd stopped his fight and glowered at the drunks.

"The fuck are you staring at?" Kidd threatened, even though his face was only slightly scary with half of it red from scrubbing and half with an almost-gone purple tint. The men about pissed themselves from fright anyway and backed up, but it took a few steps and a draw of a pistol to really scare them off.. except for one daring young man who leaned against the front of their house next to the steps with crossed arms. He looked like a cocky kid, a cocky bastard indeed.

"Well ain't you special," Kidd mumbled, approaching the black-haired man slowly and threateningly. Michael didn't really mind the other man, though; he wasn't scary looking or doing anything bad, and he was handsome and looked strong too, so he must be a good guy just like his dads! Right..?

"I like to think so," the bare-chested young man replied, tapping his black boot on the cracked concrete sidewalk in amusement. Kidd smirked evilly.

"Yeah, I can see why; your head must be completely hollow," Kidd taunted, meeting the street's curb, just outside of arm's reach from him. The man laughed and pulled his orange cowboy hat down over his eyes, shoving his hands into his black cargo shorts calmly. Kidd was starting to get annoyed, but he couldn't loose his cool right in front of Michael..

"What's a cowboy doin' outside a'the wild, wild west?" Kidd asked as Killer walked over and sat on the top stair next to Michael, just watching.. wondering.

"I reckon that this _is _the wild, wild west considerin' that even though your name ain't Billy, there's still a Kidd that shoots up whatever he likes here, too," the other replied with a teasing tone in his voice, and he poked the brim of his hat up with one finger, and looked up at the red-head with a narrow-eyed grin. Kidd scowled and didn't know how to react.

Killer studied the cowboy, looking him over and noticed a tattoo on the man's back.. and he recognized it.

"Newgate, huh?" Killer asked. The man laughed and stepped out to show Killer the full extent of the skull and cross-bones tattoo on his back.

"Damn right. Even though the old man's long gone, I still have him in a high place for what he did for me," the cowboy noted, turning back to Kidd.

Killer glanced at Kidd; Edward Newgate was a very powerful man who once controlled a lot of the area, and so once Newgate went and got himself stabbed, all the small-fry popped up and fought for slices of the old man's property. Kidd ended up gaining a lot just by himself, shooting and cutting up a lot of men along the way, but never once tried to go up against a surviving Newgate by himself; they were just bad news.

"You got a name _son_?" Kidd asked, going with the country theme. The cowboy smirked.

"Ace."

"'Scuse me?"

"Portgas D. Ace's the name," Ace said, touching the brim of his hat with his fingers. Killer knew this guy was bad news.. he was definitely a big-shot among Newgate's men, after Marco and Thatch..

"So, Eustass Kidd, I've come here to strike up a fine deal with you," Ace said, pointing a finger towards the red-head, who already felt slightly on-edge about the whole situation, "see the kid?"

The man switched his point to land on Michael, instantly making Kidd tense up and glance between the blonde and brunette, and then back to the black-haired man.

"I've heard some mighty interestin' things 'bout 'im, mighty-fine things indeed.." Ace said, grinning, "something 'bout maybe, a man called 'Joker'?"

Kidd took no time in clenching the man's throat in his hand against the brick wall, making Michael jump up and squeal, and Killer had to hold back the boy.

"The fuck do you think your doing?!" Killer screamed at Kidd, who turned back towards him like Killer had just risen from the dead.

"I should ask you the same!"

"I take it that.." Ace paused and took a calm but large breath, distracting Kidd with his rising chest as he slipped something from his pocket and held it up to the underside of Kidd's wrist, "you might want some assistance?"

Ace flicked the lighter to life and burnt Kidd's wrist to a crisp, and when the red-head winced but didn't let go, he kicked Kidd right in the gut with his heel and dug his nails into the burnt flesh, drawing blood from Kidd even after he was back on his feet again. Kidd shoved Ace away and muttered curses, shaking his wrist like the pain would somehow fling off of him.

Killer narrowed his eyes at Ace while Michael stared on in confusion. Kidd cussed. Ace grinned.

"Fire-Fist Ace at your service," Ace said while clutching his orange hat to his chest in a bow to Killer, sending a wink up to Michael who smiled and muffledly-giggled.

* * *

"Make yourself at home.. I guess," Killer said, letting Ace inside their house and led him down to the basement discussion-room, which.. was still burnt to a crisp around the doorway, but was fine otherwise. Kidd put Michael up in his room, meanwhile, and decided just to let Killer handle the discussion with Mr. Fire-Fist, since he still didn't exactly trust the Newgate-man..

"You were awesome, Kidd!" Michael told Kidd, hugging his dad's calf as Kidd sat down on Michael's bed. Kidd awkwardly smiled, feeling awfully sorry that he looked like a wimp in front of the kid when Ace decided to torch his arm. Kidd looked down at his torn up and burnt wrist and winced. Michael blinked up at him and looked curiously at his wrist too.

"Stay here.. I'll be right back," Kidd said, and closed Michael's bedroom door behind him as he walked around the apartment till he found the bathroom and ran cold water over his wrist and shivered, not liking the stinging feeling one bit, but bore with it and washed it with a little soap. Couldn't hurt to wash it, right? Right... infections suck, even for the toughest killer.

Kidd stood back from the mirror and looked at himself again.. the purple was still faintly there, but Kidd didn't want to go ripping skin off his face, so he let it be for the moment, grudgingly.. Meanwhile, he looked tired as could be and his hair was limp and parted in all different places and looked like a mess of bruises and cuts from Killer; Killer...

But.. Kidd thought about Killer, and the more he did, the more he realized that Killer had never used his hand scythes on him. Killer had put them on his hands during practice fights with the red-head but never even brought them close to cutting Kidd when he had the chance to. Heck, Killer was fending off the 'captain' with his hands literally behind his back and wasn't intimidated in the least by Ace's knowledge of Joker and affiliation with Newgate.

"So.. was Killer holding back the entire fucking time?!" Kidd hissed, banging his bad fist down on the countertop and immediately regretted it as pain shot through his arm.

Kidd let out a frustrated sigh over the matter of his 'friend' and decided to focus more on the cowboy.

What was his deal, just barging in and somehow knowing about a connection between Michael and Joker? Kidd didn't doubt the man, but he had to wonder how the completely different people were related; an innocent 6-year-old boy and a middle-aged underworld broker. No matter though, really, because Kidd was pretty sure he would've been involved with Joker through the entire 'Law' incident anyway.

So all he needed was.. well, Kidd decided that maybe having Ace around would be sort of nice. While Kidd and Killer went out to do the dirty work, Ace could stay with Michael and maybe teach him stuff, keep him busy... but most importantly, safe.

Keeping Michael safe was the key, because who knew what Joker was up to.

Splashing his face with cold water, Kidd stood up and let the water run off his skin and blinked at himself in the mirror, not used to his normal skin-colored lips. He smirked. Would Michael notice the change? Maybe, maybe not; time would tell. So Kidd walked back out to Michael's bedroom to find Killer and Ace talking with the curly-haired kid and... drawing on the walls with him.

It seemed to Kidd that everyone forgot that it was _his _building that _he _had somewhat-honestly earned!

"Hey. Where've you been?" Killer asked as he looked from behind his bangs; he didn't want Ace to see his face up close... too many people had seen his eyes already over the course of just a few days. It was... freaking him out a bit. Ace leaned back and tilted his head to look at Kidd upside-downly and smirked, holding onto the brim of his hat as usual.

Kidd growled..

Just because Ace could come in handy doesn't mean that Kidd wasn't annoyed with the man.

"How old'r you?" Kidd asked Ace, rubbing a hand over his wet face and through his hair. Ace shot Kidd a raised eyebrow.

"Twenty-one...?"

"Oh really? You sure you ain't lying?"

"Pretty damn sure, Mr. Doubtful," Ace replied with a laugh, leaning back to continue his crayon wall-mural of a burning building... great.

Kidd scowled and smacked his forehead in annoyance. How was this guy so.. scary but so immature?

And how in the hell could he possibly be the same age?! Killer was still kind of upset yet proud of being older than everyone so far. Law was just a year younger at 23.. but whatever. Numbers don't lie.. But the people who write the numbers do.

"So.. what do you want to do for me, 'Mister' Ace?" Kidd asked with sarcasm, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. Ace leaned backwards and let his hat fall off his head and he blinked at Kidd and smirked.

"Watch your tone or I'll make your hair really red and blazing," Ace taunted, slightly serious, and then coughed awkwardly, "I would be willing to keep lil' pipsqueak here under my care while you go take care of what you need to do."

"Like you'd take care of Michael and not burn this whole side of town down, too? Sounds like a great deal to me other than the big 'I don't know you' problem."

"Welp," Ace stood up and walked over to the nearest window, opening it up, "if you don't need me, I'll just be on my way-"

"No, wait!"

"Hmm?"

"Ace," Killer warned, pointing a finger down to the floor next to him, and Ace sat back down again pouting. Maybe he really wanted to jump out a 4th-story window.. Killer stared at Ace and then looked down at Michael who was still silently sitting next to him and drawing on the wall. Taking interest, Killer leaned forward and looked at what the boy was drawing.

Behind the picture of Kidd and Killer he had drawn he was drawing the red-brick buildings that he loved so much and the black lamp-posts along the cracked roads. Michael didn't notice that soon the three adults were all standing around and beside him, watching him draw. Kidd wasn't so mad about his defiled-walls anymore. Ace blinked amusedly at Michael's work and pushed his orange hat onto the boy's head, making Michael flail for a second and then turn back around to look up at Ace.

"Kinda heavy.." Michael mumbled, pulling the sides of the hat down and then letting them pop back up again. Ace smirked and bent down one knee in front of Michael who looked up at him from under the hat.

"Better get used to heavy stuff, Michael, 'cause we need to get some muscle on those bones," Ace told Michael with a wink that made Michael uneasy.

"What do you mean by that.." Kidd asked, narrowing his eyes down at Ace.

"He means that we're gonna have to raise the kid to be a fighter," Killer said nonchalantly. Kidd's eye twitched in annoyance. Ace and Michael blinked up at Kidd.

"...Fine. He'll need it."

The other three sighed in relief, as they had feared some sort of bloody rebellion to the decision.

"I still can't believe that you guys of all people picked up this little munchkin.. and how long are you planning-"

Kidd caught Ace in a headlock and silently dragged him out into the hallway and down into another abandoned bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"Shut the fuck up! Don't say that shit around him!" Kidd hissed into Ace ear. Ace merely smirked at Kidd's sensitivity and surprising compassion for the Michael. Looks can be deceiving indeed.. but that doesn't matter when they have you in a painful headlock. Ace stuck out his tongue and elbowed Kidd where a man should never be elbowed and leaped up to lean casually lean against the closed door as Kidd momentarily cursed everything that moved.

"Still haven't answered my question, Mr. Kidd."

"Well.. "

"Well?" Ace pressed on, crossing his arms.

"Well, I don't know," Killer told Michael who stood on the blonde's feet while peeking out the bedroom window at the blue sky. Michael pouted and crossed his arms.

"Kidd has to be here somewhere, though.."

"He wouldn't just leave like that with Cowboy-san if it wasn't important, Michael."

Michael leaned back into Killer and pouted, looking up Killer's chest. Kidd never really seemed to be around as much as Killer did, and Michael really really liked Killer, but.. he couldn't like Kidd as much if Kidd wasn't around! Michael didn't want to not-know his own father. If he didn't know the guy who took him in and supposedly cared for him, how could Kidd be a trustworthy dad?

"Hey Killer?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm gonna grow up to be a big, strong guy like you, right?"

"'Course you are, Michael. You'll get there one way or another.. as long as you stay with us."

Michael nodded his head happily and hugged Killer's leg tightly. He was so happy to have loving, protective parents.

* * *

"I'll keep him here for as long as he wants to stay, and I'll raise him like a real man should be, ya hear?"

Kidd had Ace in another headlock as he spoke, confident in his promise.

"Out of all these minutes I've been around you, I don't think I've heard you say the kid's name even once," Ace mumbled with a smirk, silently reaching his hand back around Kidd's back, "Maybe you don't know the poor boy's name? Or is it so sweet for your sour mouth to say?"

"I fuckin' know my kid's name!"

"Then what is it?" Ace smirked and wiggled his fingers..

"Michael, you-"

Ace pulled down Kidd's pants and bit the red-head's forearm, escaping the infuriated-one by scrambling out into the hallway whilst laughing his ass off. Kidd's head almost exploded right then and there and he screeched out at the cowboy, yanking his pants back up as he awkwardly tumbled after the other man.

"ACE!"

Ace turned his head from where he was calmly standing next to Killer and Michael and hummed in response.

"You.. as soon as I get the chance, you're gonna be-"

"Michael, Killer, Mr. Eustass, it's been a pleasure to meet you, kind sirs, but I'm afraid I must take my leave," Ace announced quickly, standing back while tipping his hat to them, and then opened the window and jumped out, and the rest of the family fought for the view out the window.

The only trace of Ace was the quick thuds of his heavy boots as he ran far, far away, laughing a little as he went.

"Well he was nice," Michael said, blinking up at the ceiling.

"I'm still gonna kill 'im," Kidd growled.

"Oh come on, let's just go downstairs and eat something," Killer decided, taking the others' hands in his own as he walked towards the doorway.

"Let go'a me!" Kidd yelped, trying to pull his hand away from Killer's grip, but to no avail, his hand remained where it was. "I-I think I'll eat on my own..."

"A family that eats together stays together, Eustass, so we all have to go," Killer reminded, digging his nails into Kidd's hand as Dad grudgingly gave in and went downstairs with his family.

* * *

A calmly tapping foot, long lanky legs, an amused smirk aimed at the other...

Firmly-grounded boots, muscular limbs, smoke curling up from a cigar to the ceiling...

"Is it a deal, then...?"

"Yes, we have a deal."

"You're sure about this?"

"Yes, for God's sake!"

"Just making sure..."

"I will never understand you."

"Yet here we are making a deal..."

"...and a good one, too."

* * *

~ + WOOOOP. hope you liked this late-late chapter! ... XD + ~


	7. Chapter 7: Relationships and Forts

Chapter 7: Relationships and Forts

The birds twittered..

The light shone bright..

A gun shot went off.

Killer yawned calmly and sat up as Michael clung to his side again...

* * *

"Okay, there you go.." Killer mumbled, pulling down a camo shirt over Michael's damp, clean hair after a shower. Michael shook the access water off his hair and then zipped up his tan shorts.

"Thank you!"

"Mmhm. Alright, no-"

The blonde was interrupted with a loud knocking at Michael's window. Michael froze and turned toward the window, and Killer followed his gaze. They both sighed and smirked as it was only a freckled cowboy taking the hard way in. Ace smiled and nodded at the two, and was secretly struggling greatly to keep his hold on the thin windowsill.

Killer walked over and opened up the window, grasping Ace by the hand and pulling him up through the window. Ace put a hand to his forehead and wiped the sweat off, sighing in relief.

"It may not look like it, but it's hotter'en hell out there.." Ace gasped as he stood up straight and closed the window behind him. Michael only giggled and ran up to Ace, hugging the man's leg in his usual sign of affection. Ace smiled and put his hat down on top of the kid's head while Killer gave him a questioning glance.

"Why did you..?" Killer started quietly, pointing a finger towards the window. Ace laughed and folded his arms across his bare chest while looking down at Michael and bit his lip.

"Well.. I'll put it this way; Mr. Kidd probably isn't too enthused that I broke down the front door, so.. here I am."

Killer looked at Ace and blinked.

"Yeah."

As that was noted, all three turned toward the bedroom door as Kidd began his long, fiery storm up the staircase.

"Down the hall, 5th left, 3rd door on the right there's a closet. Hurry up," Killer instructed, pushing Ace out of the room and into the hallway. Ace shook his head in confusion and then connected the words to thoughts and darted down the hallway, passing by the staircase with a fuming red-head almost at the top of it. Kidd pulled out his pistol and shot a few rounds at Ace. Ace shot him the finger and disappeared from view, laughing.

Michael's eyes went wide at the sound of gunshots, and then he calmed as he heard Ace's laugh echoing down the halls. Killer picked up Michael and placed him on his broad shoulders. He tried not to suffocate the child with his golden locks, though Michael seemed to be trying to teach himself how to braid hair; he was getting there... sort of, in a lopsided way.

"You fucker, you're paying for that damn door!" Kidd barked, skidding around corners to catch up to Ace, who ran for the nearest window instead of the closet. Ace gave a running thumbs-up and then jump-kicked through the window, flying, landing, and rolling on the neighboring building's flat roof. Kidd pulled another handgun from his pocket and cocked, aimed and sent bullets flying at the cowboy as he ran and ducked across the roof, finally lunging into an alley between buildings. Kidd scoffed.

"If he knew how many motherfucking times I've had to get a new fucking front door.." Kidd muttered, dropping his spare handgun to the floor. He just briefly wondered if the gun would fire up at his face, but it didn't. Kidd sighed.

"Alright.. fine. You win this time.." Kidd grumbled to himself as he walked back down the hallway to Michael's room. How was he going to..

"I need a red crayon and a piece of paper," Kidd announced from the doorway, holding open his hand for the desired objects. Michael scrambled down off Killer's back and looked around for a red crayon. The kid found it and grinned, tossing it to his dad. Killer glanced around him.. there was an old book over there, and books always have one or two blank pages at the back of them. Killer stepped over, picked up the book and chucked it at Kidd's unsuspecting face. The book thudded as it hit the floor and Kidd grimaced.

Nevertheless, Kidd picked up the book and scrawled something quickly on the back page. The other two looked on in silent confusion. Grimacing even more at his handwriting, Kidd bent down and put the book on the floor in front of Michael, who gazed at the book in awe. There were squiggly lines and circles on it!

"Can you tell what that says?" Kidd asked Michael, pointing a maroon nail at the first word. Michael squinted at the page for a while, and folded his arms in concentration. Killer stood silently; Kidd bit his lip in concern.

"Sort of..." Michael finally whispered. His face was almost touching the page as if the closeness would help him to read it better. The parents blinked.

"What're the parts that you know?" Kidd went on, sitting down indian-style across from Michael. The child puffed his cheeks for a second and then pointed at the word 'you'.

"You," Michael stated.

"Okaaay.. anything else?" Kidd confirmed, his non-visible eyebrows furrowing slightly. Michael scanned the page one more time and then shook his head, locking eyes with Kidd.

"You're sure?"

"Yep!"

Kidd stared at Michael harder.

Michael smiled awkwardly.

"Stop, you're making him feel uncomfortable," Killer stated, stepping on Kidd's back till the book and lipstick kissed. Killer took his foot off. Michael picked the book up in amazement and then laughed, looking from the stained book to Kidd's lips. Kidd groaned and rubbed his back.

"You're the flexible one, remember," Kidd told Killer. Michael, however, was having other ideas.

"How are your lips purple?" Michael asked, putting a curious finger on Kidd's lip. Kidd pulled back and blocked his mouth off.

"It's called 'lipstick'.." Kidd grumbled, looking at the floor. Michael blinked and made a connection.

"My mommy wears lipstick!" Michael declared, grinning. Kidd went red... he thought that by 'mommy', Michael meant him.

"I-I'm not a woman!" Kidd spluttered. Killer put a hand to his mouth and shook with laughter. Michael cocked his head in confusion. Kidd looked at Killer, then at Michael, and then at the ground and realized his fault. So what, right? He'd just, uh, cover that up somehow.

"I.. uh, I just thought I'd let you know," Kidd mumbled, scratching his neck as he looked out the window, "men can wear lipstick, too.."

"Well I wanna be a man!"

That's when Michael gave his first kiss... to his criminal dad.

* * *

Kidd was sentenced to the corner of shame by himself and he rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand for who knows how long...

Michael sat proudly with maroon lips; a true man indeed.

Killer stood and observed Kidd's mortified face...

and Ace ran away from a few rabid strays, coming up to the front *cough* entranceway *cough* of Kidd's apartment building.

"Sorry muts, no dogs allowed!" Ace screeched, kicking the dogs back to last week till they yelped and left the vicinity. Ace sighed and looked up at the de-hinged front door that was still laying on the floor. The door really wasn't that bad, unless you minded a foot-sized hole in the middle...

"Makes breaking and entering a whole lot easier," Ace noted with a raised eyebrow, and walked into the building casually, whistling as he went.

* * *

"So the kid can't read much, eh?"

Killer nodded, walking backwards while carrying the other end of a large couch down a 3rd story hallway.

"Why are we doing this again?" Kidd asked from the other end of the couch, and then sneered at Ace and Michael, "and what makes you think you can just get a free ride?!"

Ace shrugged and stretched out on top of the couch with Michael under his arm, "Dunno. But I could get used to this~" Michael was holding onto a stack of sheets and laid on top of 4 pillows.

"Well don't."

"You're no fun."

"Oh, he knows..."

"Right here!" Michael spoke up, pointing to the end of the hallway across from a window. Killer sighed and turned the couch with Kidd and then gently set the furniture down on the floor about 8 feet from the window. The blonde picked up Michael who reached his hands up to him and set the boy on his shoulders again. Kidd looked at the two from the other side of the couch.

"Don't you like me?" Kidd asked. All three others looked up at him. No one answered since they didn't know who the question was directed to till Michael looked around and pointed a finger to himself. Kidd nodded. Michael puffed his cheeks in thought.

After a few seconds, Michael stuck out his arms toward Kidd. Kidd blinked. Killer took Michael off his shoulders and tossed him to Kidd. Ace watched the kid fly over his head and into Kidd's arms. Kidd caught Michael like a sack of potatoes and then held the boy on his hip like a mother would hold a baby. Michael might've made this connection, hugging Kidd's side tightly.

"Now," Kidd said, getting Michael's attention, "you still wanna make your hallway-fort or just cling to me?"

"Fort!"

"Wow, I see how it is.." Kidd replied with sarcasm as he let Michael down on the floor. Killer tied his hair up and smiled, kicking Ace in the side to try and get him off the couch. Michael laughed as Kidd and Killer both took Ace's limbs and then swung up and over the sofa.

"I wasn't even doing anything!" Ace protested, climbing pained-ly back to his feet.

"That was the problem!"

After a few minutes of clearing up Michael's vague plans for the fort, Ace was sent to go find a staple gun from somewhere, Killer left to get a sewing kit, and Kidd and Michael were left up on the couch, looking out the window at the pretty blue summer's day.

"That cloud looks like a carrot."

"I was thinkin' it looked more like a knife.."

"Nah, it's a carrot."

"Whatever you say.."

Ace and Killer walked back up the stairs together and quietly snuck up to watch the father and son.

"That one looks like a pie."

"It's just a circle, it could be a whole lot of things!"

"Well, I say it's a pie!"

"The most intelligent conversation I've ever heard you take part in, Eustass," Killer joked, popping up from behind the couch. Michael gasped and then laughed at Kidd's flustered expression.

"Now let's get to making this fort," Ace concluded, holding up his newly acquired staple gun.

* * *

Soon, the blanket-hallway-fort was halfway done.

After moving the couch to a side wall, there was a front blanket-wall with a door in it, courtesy of some cutting and some sewing, and the ceiling- that was quite.. interesting.

The ceiling was made up of 4 different sheets of.. sheets. Each length of.. sheet was 9 feet long by 4 inches wide, so, they were pretty much like ribbons that were nailed every 2 feet from the front wall to the window-wall. Each of the 'ribbons' was a different color; red, blue, yellow and orange.

"How come you get a ribbon?" Kidd asked Ace like a grumpy kid. Michael answered him straight-out.

"Ace nii-san is part of our family!" Michael explained, wrapping his arms around Ace's leg while Ace stapled his ribbon up.

"Well thanks, bud."

"Mhm!"

Kidd and Killer rolled their eyes.

"Speaking of family.." Ace started, putting a hand down on Michael's head, "you guys wouldn't have happened to see or hear of a guy called 'Luffy', would you?"

Killer made a disgusted face and looked hard-right, laughing awkwardly...

"Aha..ha..we may or may not have scared the shit out of him and his friend a day or so ago.."

"Really?" Ace asked, getting up close to Killer's eyes, not even really taking in the two-colors. Killer nodded and backed away.

"I can't believe he really got out here," Ace said to himself, punching his hand a few times, "I told him I would be back, that little fu-"

"Luffy?" Michael asked, still holding onto Ace's leg. Ace nodded, interrupted. "Luffy and.. uhh.. Yussomp!.. they tried to take me away from Killer when we were getting clothes, but then something happened and they were following us around till they got back here and then Kidd scared them away.."

Ace blinked.

Kidd scratched his head, "So.. which one's Luffy? The black one or the white one?"

"You're so rude."

"But it's true, though!"

"Uhh, the white one."

"Ahhh.. yeah, I might've scared him pretty bad.. they went running down the street and then called the cops on me.."

"_Us_.. I was there too."

"Yeah, us..."

"So why aren't you in jail?" Ace asked outright. Kidd and Killer coughed and made finger-across-neck motions. Ace gaped.

"How many did you take out?! There had to have been tons, knowing you guys!"

"Ah, it was a piece of cake. Didn't even know what was comin', really.." Kidd boasted, rubbing his knuckles on his chest. The cowboy wasn't too sure and so he insisted on looking over Kidd's body.

"Ha! What's that, huh? I think that's a bulle-?!"

Kidd clamped his hand over Ace's mouth. Kidd knocked his forehead against Ace's forcefully and pried Michael off the guy's leg before letting Ace fall face-first onto the couch. Michael gasped.

"HE DIEDDD!?"

"Shut up! He didn't die!" Kidd growled back while Killer was laughing his heart out, "he's just.. taking a nap."

"Oh. He must've been realllly tired to fall asleep even you hit him."

"I know right.. so let's let him sleep, alright?"

"Okay! Let's color on the walls!"

"Killer, go get the crayons, then," Kidd decided, shoving Killer toward the fort's exit. Killer scoffed while he pushed the door open.

"Why me, Kidd? Why don't you go since I went last time?"

Kidd looked down at Michael and then back up at Killer and just shook his head, shooing the blonde away. Killer _tch_ed then 'slammed' the cloth door behind him, dashing back up to Michael's room to retrieve the crayons, and a few markers that he found, too.

Meanwhile, Michael and Kidd were going through the ABC's like it were a science. Michael was pretty good, but he never could quite remember J,Q, and V.

"H, I, uh...k-"

"Forgot one."

"I...there's not one after I!"

"Yeah there is, think harder."

"Hnnnn... I... Q! I got it!"

Kidd facepalmed.

"Yeah, you remembered something but at the wrong time, kid.. it's J."

"Darn!"

"I..I got the crayons.." Killer burst out, nearly falling through the cloth doorway and into the fort. Kidd stood up and put a hand on Killer's shoulder, taking the crayons from him.

"Thank you, and don't pass out."

"Uh-huh.." Killer whispered, falling over Ace's body on the couch from running to fast down the stairs. He really should've slowed down after the 1st fall...

"Kidd, Kidd! Is there a brown and a green?" Michael asked Kidd, standing on his tip toes to look at the selection in Kidd's hands. Upon seeing a very fine brown and a glorious green, the child took them and ran back to the wall, using the green crayon first for wild vertical lines along the baseboard of the white wall. Kidd sat next to the other two hooligans on the couch and watched his son create his first masterpiece.. or, at least begin it.

* * *

"Alright, Ace is up, I'm up, and it's 6 o'clock. I'd say it's time for dinner," Killer stated, standing up off the couch. The rest of the 'family' turned toward him and nodded in agreement, and then fought to get out the door first. Michael snaked his way between their legs and got out first, and his happy laughter brought the others back to reality.

"C'mon!" Michael chirped, skipping down the hallway with a blue crayon in hand.

"Michael, crayon?" Kidd asked, and Michael turned to toss the crayon back to Kidd who tossed it back to Ace who put it back on the ground. Killer sighed, feeling left out of the chain, and shoved his hands in his pockets as he followed the other 3 down to the first floor for dinner.

When Killer got to the main-kitchen, the others were seated around the kitchen table waiting for food that Killer would undoubtedly make.

"Okayyy.. Michael, what do you want?" Killer asked, putting an apron on over his chest. Michael looked around while he thought about it when Kidd leaned over and whispered something into this ear.

"Steak!"

"Kidd..."

"What?! He's the one that said it!"

"Mr. Kidd, why, I didn't think you'd sink so low as to blame a child for your faults.. but, I'm not objecting to steak."

"Fine, but you're paying for groceries next time then, Ace," Killer retorted, pointing a long finger at the freckled one, who merely shrugged. Kidd grinned and rubbed his hands together. Michael looked around him in confusion.

"So, what's steak?"

* * *

~ + sorry for the lateness of this update, ive been awfully busy and distracted from the fanfiction-world. luckily, I think ive been distracted by something better than this story, soooo... yeah. hope you enjoyed this semi-short chapter~ XD + ~


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